Friday, October 3, 2025

Ducati 749 999 fluid bleeders inside the front brake and clutch fluid reservoirs.

If you're servicing a Ducati 749 or 999, there are bleeders inside the front brake and clutch fluid reservoirs to bleed the radial master cylinder. Being radials, they angle up from the fluid entry to the fluid exit, and so trap air at the top.

Just don't open them with the lever pulled in - you'll get wet.
As below. The 6mm black hex in the middle.

Often, the clutch fluid coming out will be quite manky. I fill the reservoir up, then push a few lever pulls of dirty fluid out, stopping once the dirty fluid gets down toward the fluid inlet. Suck all the fluid out, start again. After a few cycles, the fluid being pumped out should clean up nicely.

On the brake side, I push the pads back to force the fluid back through the system into the reservoir. Cracking the bleeder while pushing the pads back will force any air in there straight out into the reservoir.